Chair

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Loredana Di Martino, PhD

Director of Italian/Italian StudiesAssistant Professor

Loredana Di Martino joined the faculty in 2010. She teaches Italian language, culture and literature. Previously, she held positions at Georgetown University and at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research focuses on modern and contemporary Italian literature, in particular on modernism, postmodernism, and the relationship between contemporary forms of poetic and philosophical realism. She has also worked on language pedagogy and teaching with technology.

Education

Scholarly and Creative Work

Professor Di Martino’s current research focuses on the discourse of social engagement in contemporary Italian literature. She explores the relationship between contemporary philosophies such as “weak thought” and “new realism,” and recent forms of poetic realism, focusing in particular on the discourse of late postmodern impegno and on the mythopoetic realism of the so-called “New Italian Epic.” Professor Di Martino’s research interests also include Humor studies, literary theory, cultural studies and contemporary Italian cinema. She has published articles and encyclopedia entries on Carlo Emilio Gadda and modernism, on postmodern humor, on the interplay between ethics and irony in modernist and postmodernist fiction, and on Umberto Eco. Di Martino has also published a book-length monograph that explores the affinities linking James Joyce and Carlo Emilio Gadda to reassess the critical discourse on modernism and contextualize Gadda’s work within the European literary landscape.

Teaching Interests

Professor Di Martino teaches a variety of classes, from introductory Italian language to upper-division classes on culture and literature. She strives to engage her students by making the language and culture interesting and accessible to them, and by creating a positive learning environment that encourages participation, creativity and collaboration. Professor Di Martino uses different types of language learning media and technologies to expose students to authentic language and cultural contexts and to foster intercultural understanding.